Lynsey Addario is an award-winning American photojournalist who contributes regularly to The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine. She’s documented both headline news and intimate stories all around the word. In Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Libya she has given us an up-close view of war and revolution. She’s brought us stories of Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone, sexual assault in Madagascar, rape in the DRC, heroin addiction in Afghanistan, and life before and after the Taliban. 

Her memoir, titled “It’s What I Do" recounts over 20 years of becoming one of our most renowned photojournalists. It was acquired by Warner Brothers and Steven Spielberg is expected to direct the film. Jennifer Lawrence has been cast to portray Lynsey - and we talk about that in this episode.

Also in this episode, we also talk about courage on the front lines, the risks and trauma associated with her work, respecting cultures that aren’t her own, how she makes a living and how she manages her time.

Related LINKS:

• Lynsey's Website,
• Follow her on Twitter and Instagram
• New York Times: "What Can a Pregnant Photojournalist Cover? Everything"
• National Geographic Assignments
• Buy your copy of "It's What I Do"

“I still think of myself as that same person who is struggling to get assignments. I firmly believe in life it’s important to not be too comfortable and confident. I think you have to have some degree of hunger. I want to keep pushing myself to be a better person and photographer. ” — Lynsey Addario

Sabaah Folayan is an activist and storyteller who illuminates the humanity, resilience and beauty in the struggle of communities as they mobilize and fight for justice. She merged her dedication to human rights and a newfound passion for film with Whose Streets?, a feature documentary chronicling the experience of Ferguson community members after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Sabaah and her co-director Damon Davis are premiering Whose Streets? at Sundance 2017, but this episode’s conversation took place in October of 2015, when Sabaah was still in the depths of production and stepped away to pitch the film at Camden International Film Festival’s Points North Forum in Maine. We talk with Sabaah about moving to Ferguson, working to understand the complexities of the situation amongst a sea of sensational headlines, the unique education she had between living off the land in Hawaii and living in divergent Los Angeles neighborhoods, and the forever valuable lesson she learned as a basketball player, “Everything you do is practice for the next time you do it.” The music in this episode is off Velvet and Bone, a new album by a past MusicMaker, Stag Hare.

 

MUSIC in this episode is off a new album titled Velvet and Bone by past She Does MusicMaker and friend, Stag Hare. Willow (formerly Zara) is the MusicMaker behind Stag Hare and was featured in Episode 22.5. Listen to and buy her music via Bandcamp and visit her website and Facebook.

“Space has been so privatized. We’ve been so socialized to be individuals and be on our own and our lives are our own little bubbles. I think that it was such a relief for people to just lock arms and say that ‘I’m feeling this too.’”

Related LINKS:

• Sabaah's Website, Blog & Twitter
• Whose Streets? Documentary Website & Twitter
• Whose Streets? Sundance 2017 Screening Dates
• Sabaah and co-director Damon Davis as Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2016
• She Does: Race & Media live conversation at CIFF 2015 featuring Sabaah Folayan, Shayla Harris and Alex Hannibal

 

 

 

 

 

CLIPS used in show: 

• Riot Footage From Inside The Battle of Ferguson 
• Ferguson Shooting 2015
• Startling cell phone video from Michael Brown shooting scene

CREDITS:

• Produced by Sarah Ginsburg & Elaine Sheldon
• Sound design by Billy Wirasnik
• Illustration by Christine Cover
   

Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Sarah Ginsburg (that’s us) are the co-creators, producers and hosts of this very show, She Does podcast, and maybe you got hints of this from listening over the past year, but first and foremost, we’re documentary filmmakers. In this episode, the tables are somewhat turned and we are asked a few questions by our dear friend, production assistant and member of the documentary community herself, Alijah Case. We talk about what we’ve been up to outside of the podcast and what we are planning on getting into now that we’ve officially decided to taper back on releasing episodes of this show. We aren’t calling it quits completely, especially because we LOVE She Does and have over 10 interviews in the can with some incredible women, but we have decided to edit and release episodes on our own time. We elaborate on all of the news and future plans in this special ‘it’s-not-goodbye-it’s-see-you-later’ episode, reflect on the 31 plus episodes we put out over the last year and the women featured in them, wonderful, impressive, yet very human, each in their own unique way. While the process proved to be quite labor and time intensive, it’s been one of those experiences so magical and so fruitful that it’s hard to put into words, but we do our best with the guidance of Alijah, insights from our illustrator Christine Cover, and music and words by Nona Marie Invie, who recently released an EP titled Sisters with her latest project RONiiA. And as always, thank YOU for listening to She Does. 

This episode is co-hosted by Alijah Case

Our She Does Illustrator, Christine Cover

KEEP AN EAR OUT in this episode for a little interview with our talented illustrator, the hand behind our little doe logo and all the guest portraits that came out with each episode.

Thank the heavens for our Sound Designer and champion of the slow movement, Billy Wirasnik. 

This show wouldn't have reached your ears without our SOUND DESIGNER Billy Wirasnik. Billy turned our episodes around quick, but he's also got a project that is quite slow. Check out what he's been up to with Slo Media and the slow movement here. 

  “This is a bit of a different episode...”  

This episode's MUSICMAKER is one of our favorites, Nona Marie Invie of RONiiA. Sisters is their recently released EP and the music that soundtracks this episode. 

RONiiA's recently released EP Sisters

Lisa Kron has been writing and performing award-winning theatre since the mid-1980s. Most recently, Lisa wrote the lyrics and book to the musical "Fun Home," based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Lisa, and composer Jeanine Tesori, were the first writing team of women to win a Tony for Best Original Score. Fun Home also took home Tony awards for Best Book of a Musical, Best Musical, Best Direction and Best Actor. Lisa's other plays include The Ver**zon Play, In The Wake, Well, 2.5 Minute Ride, 101 Humiliating Stories, which have all received recognition and awards nationally and internationally. She is a founding member of the legendary OBIE and Bessie Award-winning collaborative theater company The Five Lesbian Brothers. 

In this episode, Lisa talks about the role of theatre as an artform, the challenges of adapting a graphic novel into a musical, how to make live performance resonate with audiences, the representation of women--and lesbians--in theatre, and the morals of personal storytelling.

The episode is sponsored by Fun Home the musical.

“You can tell a story in which everybody in the world is the same and everything in the world is just like everything else. Or you can tell a story about how things are not the same, and yet equally human. ” — Lisa Kron

Related Links:

• Lisa Kron's Website
• Lisa on Facebook
• Lisa on Twitter
• Lisa accepting Fun Home's Tony award (video)
• Small Gains for Female Playwrights (New York Times)
• Lisa Kron's 'Well' Opens on Broadway (New York Times)
• A Quick Trip From Playwright to Player (New York Times)

Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori take us behind the music of their Tony-nominated musical FUN HOME.

"FUN HOME" songs featured in this episode:

• Helen's Etude
• Raincoat of Love
• This Is What I Have of You...
• Come to the Fun Home
• Maps
• Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue
• Days and Days
• It All Comes Back (Opening)
• Changing My Major
• Telephone Wire
• Ring of Keys
• Flying Away (Finale)

Clips used in this show:

• On The 20th Century

MUSIC FEATURED IN EPISODE 30

Photograph provided by River Jones Music

Curated by Sarah Ginsburg

Michelle Blades is an eclectic musician who was born in Panama, raised in Miami, spent time in Arizona along with a handful of other locations around the world, and is currently based in Paris. Her music is as fluid as she is, going from acoustic sounds in her early albums to experimentation with electric guitar, synthesizers, found sounds and repeating vocals in her more recent releases. 

LISTEN to and PURCHASE the music of Michelle Blades on Bandcamp, iTunes and Spotify. Her music can also be heard on Midnight Special Records' Soundcloud. Take a peek at her blog while you're at it!

 

Lily Baldwin is a New York-based filmmaker and dancer that uses movement of the body and unconventional narrative structures to tell human stories. Her short films (Sea Meadow, A Juicebox Afternoon, Sleepover LA, and Swallowed) have played at festivals like SXSW, Berlinale EFM, and the Lincoln Center and been featured on NOWNESS, Short of the Week, Fandor, Filmmaker Magazine, and Vimeo Staff Picks. Lily fell into filmmaking when she was performing as a professional dancer in David Byrne’s two year world tour Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Lily often writes, choreographs, directs, edits and plays the leading role in her films, seeking to “rip things up” with both graceful and rigid moments and scenes made up of bold, jarring edits. In other scenes, she’s simply another human on the street, walking with the rest of us. Lily is a Sundance Fellow with her upcoming VR project in collaboration with Saschka Unseld, Through You. She’s about to start shooting her first feature, Glass, a stalking thriller based on a real experience about a dancer and an insidious fan in our privacy-gone world. Lily talks about the rigor and commitment of dancers, coming into film as a “second career”, the responsibility she feels as an artist to pull from her own experiences and educate, and “working your buns off” to be the ultimate version of yourself.

“I think we have a responsibility to mine what we know. It’s great to make up stories and live in imagination but I feel like I can do a better job with something I’ve been through. Life is unlived, for me, if I don’t peel off the layers.”

RELATED LINKS:

• Lily's Website, Twitter and Instagram
• Berlinale Short Talks (Video Interview)
• Ravelin Magazine Feature
• Girls on Film Interview
• Lily's Films on Fandor
• Dancing Words Artist Profile

 

MUSIC in this episode is by Michelle Blades. Listen to her music on Bandcamp or on Midnight Special Records' Soundcloud, and take a peek at her Tumblr.

Songs you heard: Subtropical Suburban, Crush! I Went to Your Party from the album Ataraxia // Le Bois, Lava Boy, Swallowing Truths & River Rocks, Yellow Petaled Coast from the album Songs From Another's Bed // My Grimey Dreams, I'll Let in the Outside Noise from the album & // 10th and Wilson Score off the EP Nah, See Ya // Making Friends In The Dark, It All Ends Here off the album Cold Shoulders

 

Name: Lily Baldwin

Current City: New York

What are you listening to now? I just went throwback on myself and have been listening pretty nonstop to Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works II

What film/book/show/piece of media changed you? There are too many to fit into this white box, but if I look at my bookshelf right this second, I'm going to say: Eadweard Muybridge's pictures and Murder She Wrote -- Jessica Fletcher is one of my favorite protagonists.

Who is your career role model? Cindy Sherman -- she's self taught, fearless about changing herself and isn't afraid to be ugly in her work.

What is a tool you can't live without? A Panasonic boombox from the 80's that I listen to NPR on.

How do you drink your coffee/tea? Coffee-- a super dark, greasy brew with a dash of cream

What's your spirit animal? Wolf.

Updates?  I'm thrilled to be premiering my short film Swallowed as part of the upcoming omnibus feature project, Collective:Unconscious, at SXSW as the first ever omnibus feature in competition! Next on the horizon this year is gearing up to shoot my first feature GLASS, a thriller inspired by a true stalking story. I'm also going to be directing a VR project, Through You, with Saschka Unseld in collaboration with Sundance. And on less immediate burners, I'm cooking up two episodic series!

 

 

CLIPS USED IN SHOW:

• Ride, Rise, Roar (Feature Documentary Trailer)
• Sleeping With Frank (Short Film)
• Sea Meadow (Short Film Trailer)
• A Juicebox Afternoon (Short Film)
• Sleepover LA (Short Film)
• Music from Swallowed by Mark degli Antoni (Short Film from Collective:Unconscious)
• Women of The Year: Misty Copeland (Short Film)

CREDITS:

• Produced by Sarah Ginsburg & Elaine Sheldon
• Sound design by Billy Wirasnik
• Illustration by Christine Cover
• Production Assistance by Alijah Case

LIVE PERFORMANCE FEATURED IN EPISODE 29

WOMANMAY is the solo project of Maylin Colmenares, Venezuelan-bred and Miami-based guitarist and vocalist. There's a lot of soul and wisdom in the experimental folk music that Womanmay puts out, and we were lucky to have Maylin open a live show with Almudena Toral at Film Gate for us. At the end of the this live episode, catch a short interview with Maylin and enjoy her music as we’ve sprinkled songs from her latest album Ahi Ahi.

LISTEN to Womanmay on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Spotify and iTunes. 

LISTEN the Womanmay play "Ahi Ahi" 

From left to right: Elaine Sheldon (She Does), Almudena Toral (Univision), Sarah Ginsburg (She Does), Maylin Colmenares (WOMANMAY) at Film Gate in Miami, Florida.

RELATED LINKS

Almudena's Website

Interview on ReportHers

Vimeo

Twitter

Almudena Toral is a Spanish visual journalist and the head of video at Univision News Digital in Miami. Prior to working for Univision, Almudena freelanced worldwide and worked at The New York Times and TIME. Her work has been published by The Guardian, VICE, AlJazeera, Huffington Post, El País, Canal+ and other outlets. She's the recipient of a 2013 Pictures of the Year International Award of Excellence – Multimedia Photographer of the Year. 

Her work has received accolades from the Emmys, National Press Photographers Association, the World Cup of Photography, and The Deadline Press Club. Almudena is passionate about multi-platform storytelling, human rights, health and gender issues, the global south and immigration policy, among others. 

In this episode, she talks about Univision News Digital’s goal to serve Hispanic and Latino communities in the U.S., the benefits of being a woman in journalism, covering heroin addiction in Tanzania, and her many lessons learned as a freelance video and photojournalist. 

Almudena gives great advice on pitching stories. Most importantly, she encourages artists and journalists to be flexible with the ability to do many things, but to really specialize in and master one thing.

MUSIC BY: WOMANMAY

WOMANMAY is the solo project of Maylin Colmenares. Venezuelan-bred and Miami-based guitarist and vocalist. We were lucky to have Maylin open the live show at Film Gate for us. Stick around at the end of this episode to hear a short interview with her. We’ve sprinkled songs from WOMANMAY'S latest album Ahi Ahi throughout this recording.

• Bandcamp
• Facebook
• iTunes

 

Iva Radivojevic is a documentary director and editor. She was born in Yugoslavia, raised in Cyprus and has lived in New York City since she was 18 years old. Much of her work explores belonging, and draws from poetry and personal experience. Her debut feature, "Evaporating Borders," examines migration, tolerance and identity through the experience of asylum seekers in Cyprus. The film has received awards worldwide and was nominated for an International Documentary Association (IDA) Award and a Cinema Eye Honors Spotlight Award and screened over 80 times at festivals, including SXSW, Human Rights Watch FF, Rotterdam IFF, DokuFest and HotDocs. Iva is the recipient of the 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and was named one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film of 2013 by Filmmaker Magazine. In this episode Iva talks about her series "IvaAsks" where she learned how to make films, her draw to poetry, working as an editor, her new film inspired by Jorge Luis Borges’ “Aleph,” and the things she does (writing, exercising, meditating) to keep her life calm and collected.

Related Links:

• Filmmaker Magazine profile 
• Iva on Twitter
• Iva on Instagram
• Evaporating Borders
• Iva Asks Series
• The Intercept interview
• Bomb Magazine interview
• Iva on BBC World News
• IndieWire interview

Name: Iva Radivojevic

Current Town: Brooklyn

What are you listening to now? Nana Vasconcelos, Toto la Momposina, Connan Mockasin

What film/book/show/piece of media changed you? Here are a few things that left a permanent imprint:
Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" and consequently most of her work.
Alain Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad"
Ilya Khrzhanovsky's film "4"
"For an imperfect cinema" an essay by Julio Garcia Espinosa
"What's wrong with the liberal documentary" an essay by Jill Godmilow

Who is your career role model? There are so many people. I also find myself lucky to know many brilliant, creative and intuitive minds, not only filmmakers, but also musicians, poets, painters, runners, activists etc. and so I steal a little wisdom from each, from all directions and blend it to what works for me. 

What is a tool you can't live without? Pen and paper (MUJI), Camera, Music

How do you drink your coffee/tea? Tea! (Caffeine makes me crazy)

Clips used and mentioned in show:

• Looking Glass (edited by Iva)
• Knedle (Grandma Project)
• Romantzo
• IVA ASKS films: Milena, Occupy Wall Street, Anita, Grandpa Elliott
• Magic Fikus

Music by Apache Tomcat

“Poetry speaks volumes and it digs and penetrates much deeper than if I was to do something in a purely journalistic way and disseminate information. I don’t want to throw stuff in your face or bang you over the head with information. I really love the written word and I like how that matches up, or doesn’t match up with images and how they can dance together or repel each other. ” — Iva Radivojevic

MUSIC FEATURED IN EPISODE 27

Charly and Margaux of Chargaux are classically trained in string instruments but create music that blends traditional orchestral sounds with hip-hop, electronic music and Jazz. It's definitely music you can’t fit into one box. They started playing together in Boston and New York's subway stations and were quickly discovered by people and companies that wanted them to perform, like Opening Ceremony, Kendrick Lamar, and First Lady Michelle Obama. They are all about experimenting with both their music and their visual aesthetic, wearing colorful clothing that actually looks like the music they play. 

WATCH: "Lullaby" Official Music Video

FOLLOW: Website, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

 

LISTEN: Chargaux on Soundcloud and iTunes. Be sure to download their mixes Art/Sex Volume 1 and Brown History Starter Pack FREE on Soundcloud.

Alexis Wilkinson went from being the first black woman President of Harvard’s acclaimed humor publication, The Lampoon, to writing for HBO’s hit comedy series, “Veep.” She’s become an outspoken public figure and writer--with work featured in Slate, Opening Ceremony and TIME--but as we know, big victories such as these don’t come without a lot of work, a few disruptions and some twists and turns in the road. In this episode, Alexis recalls her experiences of “comping” or trying out for The Lampoon multiple times, finding her place in the middle of an elitist institution, losing her best friend and working to create media that represents this diverse world as it actually is. Her response to naysayers? Laughter. And this is why she chose comedy. Music in this episode is by Chargaux.

“The best thing you can do when the unexpected happens is to laugh at it. That’s the best outcome. You either get angry or you laugh at it.” — Alexis Wilkinson

RELATED LINKS:

• Alexis on Twitter
• Alexis' writing on Opening Ceremony, Slate, Time, Cosmopolitan & xojane
• Boston People feature on Alexis
• Alexis on Studio360
• Veep 

CLIPS USED IN SHOW:

• Veep Theme Song
• Alexis at Chicago Ideas Week Conference
• NPR Interview with Alexis
• Alexis on Melissa-Harris Perry
• Clip from Veep Episode 7, Season 2 - "The Shutdown"
• Clip from Veep Episode 1, Season 1 - "Fundraiser"

 

 

 

Name: Alexis Wilkinson

Current City: Los Angeles, California

What are you listening to now? "I Wanna Boi" by PWR BTTM

What film/book/show/piece of media changed you? I've gotten really into the director Alexander Payne lately. "Citizen Ruth" is a great movie. I've been thinking a lot about smart satire and treating "unlikable" characters with compassion and that film does an amazing job of both.

Who is your career role model? Shonda Rhimes

What is a tool you can't live without? My foundation primer by BECCA! My skin is oily like an empty bag of chips without it. I also have a Mophie phone charging case that has changed my life.

How do you drink your coffee/tea? Milk and sugar if I'm relaxed. Black if I'm getting down to business.

What's your spirit animal? House cat: attractive, inflated sense of importance, adaptable, rude

Updates? We're finishing up shooting the last episodes of Veep, which everyone should check out! The new season premieres the 24th of April. I've got a couple projects in both film and TV that are moving forward, but it's a bit too soon to tell. Fingers crossed!

CREDITS:

• Produced by Sarah Ginsburg & Elaine Sheldon
• Sound design by Billy Wirasnik
• Illustration by Christine Cover

 

MUSIC in this episode is by Charly & Margaux of CHARGAUX. Visit their website, purchase their music on iTunes and check out their MusicMaker episode Wednesday, February 17th. 

Songs you heard: Lullaby (feat. Soft Glas), Tell William, I'm So Pretty from the album Broke & Baroque // All The Parties, Lone Ranger, Great Expectations from the album The Gallerina Suites